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FEEDBACK: TUESDAY, JULY 2
Players have no sense of tennis history
It isn't surprising to read the
comments Venus [Williams] made about [Steffi] Graf not being a grass
court player. Although I only read the comments made during the
press conference, it seemed as if Venus cares little for tennis
history. In fact, of all current top ten players, only Seles seems
to have a sense of tennis history – or at least a desire to
understand it. Players have become less aware of from where they
came and more interested in their own place in present time. I'm
sure this has happened in the past, but it also seems as if none
of them are aware of their luck to be part of the current generation
of women players.
When asked about equal prize money,
almost none of the players have dared to question The All England
Club's policies. They have even defended the discrepency, claiming
that the men play longer matches. Understanding the past is the
best way to change the future and none of the women seem much interested
in making their sport better. The Williams sisters had to be practically
begged in order to play full seasons, [Jelena] Dokic refuses to
play in Australia, [Jennifer] Capriati gets kicked off the Fed Cup
- players don't even wait for each other before leaving the court
after the match!
Years ago, Chris Evert and Hana
Mandlikova were waiting to play the final at Wimbledon. As the story
goes, Hana saw a photo of Mo Connolly and asked Chris who it was.
A mortified Evert couldn't believe that Mandlikova couldn't recognize
a Grand Slam winner. I wonder if the players today would even bother
to ask.
David Rosenberg
Brooklyn, N.Y., USA
Related
story: Did Venus
diss Steffi?
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